Misfit
by needysaurusrex
Summary: Series of unrelated one shots involving Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier, ranging in short to long, K to M, the apocalypse to AU. Rated T in general.
1. One: Fair Game

**Okay! So I said I was going to start a series of drabbles for Caryl and just after I posted the first for my Marol series, I finally decided to sit down and write the first one for my Caryl series. This was suggested by youwereneveraslicebitch about Daryl hurting Carol's feelings after someone mistakes her for his wife and well... this is what happened to that. Also turned out a little longer than I planned too but.. I'm not going to complain. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

**Suppose the only warning for this is language. Dixon mouth, of course.**

**I don't own The Walking Dead, this is just for fun.**

**(Oh, so the title basically came from me whining about how I couldn't come up with a title for these unconnected drabbles that don't fit anywhere and my friend Catherine suggested that I name it Misfit and I thought it fit pretty well, so that's where the title of this series came from. And now to the reading!)**

* * *

"I tell ya man, if she wasn't your wife, I'd be all over that."

"Carol ain't my fuckin' wife." The words were out of Daryl Dixon's mouth before he could even stop them. The words were true, she's not his wife but that wasn't to say there wasn't _something _going on between him and Carol, but he doesn't even know what it is. He'd bring her gifts from runs, leave her small notes, even give her the occasional kiss on the cheek or forehead, sometimes they even slept in the same bed. But she wasn't his wife. Was she even his girlfriend? Was girlfriend really a word to use in the apocalypse? She was just Carol. She wasn't _his, _he had no claim to her.

The man who had been talking Daryl's ear off, someone they brought with them from Woodbury. Daryl thought his name was John, lit up when Daryl said that Carol isn't his wife. Of course Daryl didn't add that there's _something _going on between he and Carol. That isn't this guys business, it isn't anyone's business but his and Carol's.

"So she's fair game? Thanks, man. Don't know why everyone is so scared of ya." John took off towards Carol who was cooking dinner outside at the grill before Daryl could even realize what's going on.

Daryl growled and picked up his crossbow, swinging it back over his back. "Hey, I didn't say.." Daryl trailed off as he realized the guy couldn't hear him. "Oh shit."

"Oh, Carol is going to kill you." An amused voice said from behind him between loud laughs. Daryl turned his head and looked back at Glenn, snarling at Glenn's amused smirk. "I think I'd pay to see that conversation."

"Ya couldn't have helped me out there?" He asked. Glenn shrugged and came around the counter, slapping his hand on Daryl's bare shoulder.

"It was too entertaining to watch the hole you dug yourself into." Glenn grinned at his friend and glanced back at the door where the man had walked out of there. "You better get out there and do some damage control, Dixon." Glenn said. Daryl grumbled and turned around on his heel and left the prison, leaning against the railing of the stairs as he watched John talk to Carol.

* * *

"Is the squirrel ready to be turned over?" Patrick asked Carol. The woman turned around from the prep station and turned to look at the young man who was helping her cook dinner. She liked Patrick, he was always willing to help her out with cooking. If Sophia had been alive, she would have been about Patrick's age, maybe a year younger. Sometimes Carol couldn't help but wonder if Sophia would have liked Patrick. Carol wiped her hands off and picked up one of the kabob sticks she was cooking the meat on.

The meat was ready, but Carol needed to teach Patrick to trust his own instincts. "What do you think? Does it look ready to be turned over?" She asked.

Patrick furrowed his brow and pushed his glasses up his nose, turning his eyes to look at the squirrel again. He nodded and reached over to turn it over. Carol didn't protest, so he took it as a sign to continue.

"Good. You need to trust yourself when it comes to this, Patrick." Carol said before she turned around to continue preparing the vegetables for dinner.

"Get outta here kid, I can help Carol with this." Carol heard a voice behind her. The only other person who ever helped her with dinner was Daryl Dixon but she knew that wasn't his voice. She turned around to see one of the men that Daryl and Rick had brought back from Woodbury, she remembered that his name was Jeremy. Carol didn't much care of Jeremy, he hung around too much and din't seem to have boundaries. Patrick looked at Carol, not sure if he should move. "Did ya hear what I said, kid? Get."

Carol could tell the man was making Patrick uncomfortable with how close he was and the way he was bossing him around. "Patrick, it's okay. You did good today. If you're up in the morning, we can do breakfast." She set her hand on his shoulder, giving Patrick a soft smile.

"See you tomorrow, Ms. Carol." Patrick nodded and walked passed the older man. Carol glanced up at him before she turned back to the vegetables. "Can I help you with something, Jeremy?" She asked, picking up her knife and slicing through the cucumber. Jeremy glanced at the knife in her hand as he leaned against the counter next to the grill.

"Just wanted to help ya out here."

"Patrick was helping me, he does a fine job." Carol said, turning her head up as she noticed Jeremy had moved closer to her. _Oh, no.. _Carol thought to herself as she looked up at him.

He smiled at her, glancing down at the older woman. "Well, maybe I didn't mean help in the kitchen.."

Carol pursed her lips and set down the knife, glancing up at the prison door. She could see Daryl leaning over the railing of the steps as the man spoke to her. She moved back to the grill and pulled the squirrels off the grill, using a knife to slice up the meat. "I don't need help in that situation either." Carol said, glancing up at Daryl again.

Jeremy's eyes followed hers and glanced up at the redneck. "Dixon? Really? Told me there was nothing going on between you two." Carol stopped slicing the squirrel and turned her head to look up at him.

"He said that?" She asked. He gave her a swift nod and glanced up at Daryl again. Daryl said there was nothing going on between them? Why would he say something like that? Carol frowned and finished up dinner before bringing her hand up to the dinner bell. She shook it to let everyone know that dinner was ready and she wiped her hands off. "Excuse me, Jeremy." She said and walked past the man, through the small crowd that had formed and up the stairs.

Daryl watched Carol come his way and could tell by the look on her face that she was not amused. He opened his mouth to speak as she came up the steps, cursing when she pushed past him and walked towards the cell block. Daryl groaned and walked back into the prison, glancing at Glenn who was watching Carol walk up the cell block with an amused look on his face. He let out a slight growl and followed Carol up the stairs and into her cell.

Carol had been waiting for Daryl, her arms crossed over her chest. "Nothing going on between us, huh?" She asked as soon as he set down his crossbow against the wall and shut the curtain behind him.

"What?" He asked. Daryl wasn't playing innocent, that just wasn't what he had told the man.

"You told Jeremy there was nothing going on between us." Carol stated. "Which is very confusing considering the way we've been dancing around each other for the past year." She wasn't going to out right say it, but her feelings were hurt that Daryl said there was nothing going on between them. Maybe she had interpreted his actions wrong. Maybe he just brought her gifts to keep her happy so she'd continue to take care of him without question. Maybe the notes and kisses were just his way of letting her know he cared. Maybe he just slept in her cot occasionally to stay warm. Maybe Carol had just interpreted all of this wrong.

_Jeremy? Oh. _"I thought his name was John." He mumbled, bringing his hand up and scratching his chin. Daryl looked at Carol and sighed at the look on her face. She didn't need to say it, she wasn't just angry, she was hurt. Fuck, he had hurt her. Fuckin' Jeremy had told her the complete opposite of what he had said. "I didn't fuckin' say there was nothin' going on."

"Really?" Carol asked, her arms still crossed over her chest.

"I told him you ain't my wife. Then he asked if you were fair game and took off before I could say anything else." Daryl took a step over to her and looked down at the unhappy woman he'd been _courting_. "Before I could tell him you sure as hell ain't fair game."

Carol's lip twitched a bit and she tried to keep her angry face, though she was finding it incredibly difficult to stay angry at Daryl when he was looking down at her with a look that she was sure meant he wanted to take her against the wall. "Well, then you best go correct him." She waved off Daryl.

Daryl glanced around the room. "Right now?" He asked when he turned back to look at her. Carol didn't look mad anymore, she looked more amused than anything. Daryl scratched his chin again and turned his head to look out into the prison. Most of the people had come into the prison to eat, including Jeremy, who was watching the door to Carol's cell. He turned back to look at her, catching the glimpse of a smile she was trying to hide.

She nodded. "Right now." Daryl turned around and picked up his crossbow, leaving the cell. Carol snorted and followed him out of the cell, leaning over the railing as she watched Daryl so nicely tell Jeremy that she sure as hell was not fair game.


	2. Two: Careful

**Eh, I don't know what I'm doing but I found this in my fic folder and decided to finish it up to add to my drabble series. Trying to get out of my funk. Help me get out of my funk by sending me prompts! It can be anything, a line, a word, a situation. Help a girl get out of her funk, please?**

* * *

Daryl had gotten injured again when he was out hunting, got his arm all scratched up. He'd gotten attacked by a squirrel, which had caused him to lose his footing and fall in a hole someone had made for a trap. His whole arm was scratched up, most of them not too serious. There were two that needed stitches and he'd done straight to Carol to take care of them. Could have gone to Hershel, but he liked when Carol did instead. Normally, she was just as gentle as Hershel was. Not today. She was halfway through the second set of stitches and she'd been silent the whole time. Daryl had opened his mouth several times to talk but he could sense that she was angry and he didn't want to make it worse by talking. "Sometimes, you really make me angry." Carol finally spoke as she pulled the needle through his skin. She was being a bit more rough than she needed to be with him as she thread the needle into him. Daryl Dixon frowned at Carol and he grunted at her.

"Why?" He asked. Carol finished the stitches and put away the medical supplies before she lifted her head up to look at him.

Carol sighed and let out a breath through her nose as Daryl pulled his jacket back on. There was nothing that she could say that would make her feelings sound any less stupid or childish. "You're not careful out there." She said, crossing her legs as she sat next to him on the cot in the prison cell. Daryl opened his mouth to argue that he was careful, but Carol continued to speak before he could. "You're always coming back with new bruises or new scratches and you're always sore."

Daryl looked over at her and he grunted in apology. What did she want him to say? Carol sighed and glanced over at him. "You don't know what it would do to me if I lost you." She said softly.

They both knew what it was like to lose each other. Daryl when he'd thought she died in the prison, Carol when he left with Merle. Daryl knew what it had done to him to think he had lost her, but he didn't know what it had done to her to lose him. They never talked about it.

"You'd get over it." He mumbled. Why would she even care if she lost him? He was just.. Him. Some stupid redneck that was only good for huntin' squirrels.

Carol frowned. "No... I'd move on, but there would always be a missing hole in my heart that a certain redneck held." She teased.

Daryl didn't stop the small smile that twitched on his face. Seeing the hint of a smile on his face made Carol smile. "Didn't know ya felt that way about Merle." He teased. Carol pursed her lips and shook her head. He knew she was talking about him, but he needed to make a joke to deal with it. Most of their heart to hearts weren't like this, weren't about what they meant to each other.

Carol reached over and set her hand over Daryl's hand that was resting on top of the cot. He glanced at her hand on top of his but he didn't make any effort to move his hand. "Stay safe out there, Daryl." Her rare touch and the rare use of his name made Daryl smile again and he glanced up at her.

"Ya ain't the only one with nine lives."


	3. Three: Dada

**I have no idea what I'm doing right now. But I wanted to write something about Daryl being a Daddy and this is what came to mind. Anything to get my muse back, right? Working on some of the prompts that I've been given, but I'm taking a break from all my fics until I feel confident enough to write with them again. Doesn't mean they won't be updated if they have chapters to be updated with, but updates will be more infrequent.**

* * *

"Say Dada. Say Dada." Daryl attempted to convince his two year old daughter, Skye, to say Dada. Lately, his daughter had been talking a bunch. She'd said 'Mama', 'baba', could ask for certain things like cookies and to be picked up. Daryl would swear that she had almost said Merle once. But the one thing that she wouldn't day was 'Dada'.

"Come on, Skye, say Dada for Daddy." Daryl grunted and looked down at his little girl. She was sitting on her fathers lap wile Daryl leaned back against the couch. His large hands were wrapped gently around her ribs, holding her up.

"Mama!" Skye exclaimed, turning to look at her mother who was in the kitchen. Carol was preparing for a girls might out with Andrea, Lori, and Maggie. It was long needed, Carol was worked to the bone the last few weeks.

"Do ya think she hates me?" Daryl asked his girlfriend as he lifted Skye in his arms and carried her into the kitchen. Skye babbled in his arms, slapping her small hands on his shoulder.

Carol looked over at him and made a face. "Don't be silly." She said and ran her fingers through Skye's short dark hair and looked up at her longtime boyfriend. "She loves her Daddy, you're the only one who can get her to calm down when she's screaming her little head off." Carol said as she repeatedly kissed her daughters cheek.

"Mama Mama!" Skye squealed and reached out for Carol.

"Say Dada, Skye." Daryl pleaded with his daughter, frowning as he looked down at her. Skye looked up at her father and reached up to grab his facial hair, tugging with all her might. "Ow, ow."

Carol giggled and took Skye from her boyfriend, resting her daughter on her hip. "She's just having trouble with it, Daryl. She'll say it soon. Give her time." She said.

"She can say other things. Like cookie and baby go up, why can't she say Dada?" He looked up at Carol with frustration written all over his face. "Shit you not, she started to say Merle last week."

"Shit, shit!" Skye mimicked her father. Carol slowly turned her head to look at Daryl.

Daryl glanced at his daughter and pursed his lips, trying not to laugh at his daughter swearing. "So that you can say but not Dada?" He asked.

"If our daughter starts dropping F bombs, you won't get to hear her start saying Dada." Carol said as she set Skye on the floor. She watched as Skye walked into the living room and went to play with her toys. Carol leaned against the counter and looked at her wife.

Daryl glanced back at the living room and looked back at Carol. "What if she hates me? I mean ya say she doesn't, say I'm good with her but she won't even say Dada. She says everything else but that. Almost said _Merle _for fucks sake. Merle ain't her Daddy."

"Daryl. Daryl. " Carol interrupted, stepping over to him. She was late for her girls night out but her boyfriend thought that their daughter hated him. That took precedence over having a night out with her girls. "Think of all the words she can say. Mama, cookie, baby go up. She can ask for some of her toys too. Every single word she can say doesn't have a D. She's probably just having issues with D's." She said and leaned up to press her lips softly against his cheek.

"So, it's just D's? It ain't that she hates me?" He mumbled.

"That little girl loves you more than she loves anyone. More than she loves me or her Uncle Merle or Aunt Andrea or Uncle Rick or Aunt Lori or her grandparents." Carol said, leaning against the counter. "You don't get to see it because you're not here but she's almost inconsolable when you go out hunting. Screaming her head off because her Daddy isn't here to sing her a damn lullaby." Daryl's lips turned up in an awkward twitch. "No matter how long it takes Skye to say Dada or Daddy, she loves you."

Daryl was blushing, trying to fight off the grin on his face. Of course he didn't know that Skye was screaming her head off when he wasn't around. How could he know? He didn't like that it left Carol with his screaming daughter, but he had to admit he liked that she needed him so much. Daryl glanced back into the living room and looked at his daughter while she played with one of the many baby toys she had. Skye Dixon was more spoiled than any child he had ever known.

Carol smiled and nudged her boyfriend as she stood in the kitchen. "She's gonna grow up to be worlds biggest Daddy's Girl." Daryl's lips twitched up and he looked down at her.

"Ya think so?"

"Hell yeah." Carol said. "She's going to be your biggest fan. Now, can I go out to have my girls night?"

"Go. Get outta here." Daryl said. Carol smiled and leaned up to press her lips into his cheeks before she left the house. Daryl went into the living room and sat on the couch to watch his daughter as she played with her toys.

After dinner and a bath, Daryl set Skye back on the floor with her pile of stuffed animals. He sat on the floor a few feet from her, taking the chance to get something to eat. His dinner wasn't anything special, just mac and cheese and hotdogs. Carol was probably having a much better dinner than he was.

Daryl finished his dinner and set the bowl on the ground, looking at Skye play with stuffed animals. "Whatcha got there, princess?" He asked.

Skye turned her head to look up at her father and grinned, lifting up the stuffed squirrel in her hands. The next words that came out of her mouth caused a grin to form on his face like the Grinch before he stole Christmas. "Squirrel D-Dada!"


	4. Four: Easter Egg Hunt

**So this is for the USS Caryl's Spring Fling. Using Easter eggs and by proxy, Easter. I'm gonna do several entries for it, just because I'm working on getting the muse back. I hope you all like this one!**

* * *

When Carol Peletier was a little girl, she loved Easter egg hunts. She was always really good at them, too. Her local church would have an Easter egg hunt every year and the winner would get this giant Chocolate bunny and every single year, Carol won. Easter egg hunts were the one thing that Carol missed about being a little girl. That and not having to worry about when the next walker attack was going to happen.

"S'on your mind?" Carol's trail of thought was interrupted by Daryl Dixon. She jumped and dropped the spoon into the soup she was stirring, a weak laugh escaping her throat.

Daryl let a small smile form on his face as she jumped. He hadn't meant to scare her. He mumbled a quick apology, which she quickly waved off. "Didn't even hear you come in here. Thought I was the only one awake." Carol said softly, turning back to the soup. Soup wasn't exactly breakfast food, but it was what they had.

"Been awake, was on watch. Glenn's awake now too, took my place" Daryl said, taking a few steps into the kitchen. "Was gonna rest but.." Carol smiled and looked over at him.

"When you were a kid..." Daryl sucked in a breath as she started, he already knew he wasn't going to like this conversation. Carol glanced over at him and pursed her lips, considering her words. "Did you ever do Easter egg hunts?"

Daryl leaned against one of the tables and looked at her. "No, we ain't ever done one of those. Once my Pa hid food in the field behind our house and made me look for food but..." Carol's stomach ached at his confession and she sucked in a deep breath. She was sorry she asked. "You?"

A slight smile formed on her lips, turning back to the soup and turning the fire down on the burner. "Every year. Our, uh, church would organize one and the winner would get this Chocolate Bunny. I won every single year." Daryl snorted. Of course she would win them. He looked down at the floor, his mind drifting back to looking for his dinner in a field when he was a kid. Damn, he wished he could have killed his father. He regretted never being able to do it. "I miss doing them. I did them for Sophia when she was younger too. She had the time of her life looking for those eggs in the backyard."

Daryl glanced up at Carol at the mention of Sophia. "She win 'em?"

Carol smiled softly. "No... Ed never let her. He'd hide them ridiculously well and give her a time limit. But she still had the time of her life doing them." Daryl frowned at the mention of her dead husband. Never even let his kid win a damn game? He opened his mouth to speak but Carol continued. "Ed never let Sophia win anything, didn't believe in letting her win she needed to deserve the win."

Daryl snorted. "Jus' when I thought I couldn't hate the man more." He said before he could stop himself from saying it. Carol craned her head back to look at Daryl and flashed him a smile. He watched the flash of pain leave her eyes as she remembered her daughter.

Carol felt tears brim her eyes and she turned to look at the soup. Sometimes it was harder for her to think about Sophia, today was one of those days. "Why don't you go get some rest, Daryl? I know you've been running on a few hours sleep from two days ago."

"Ya sure?" Carol nodded. Daryl waited for a moment before he turned around and left the kitchen to go up to the cell next to Carol's to get just a few hours sleep.

* * *

The following day found Daryl, Glenn, Tyreese and Michonne out on a run. It'd taken half a day to find something that was promising, but the group found a grocery store that didn't seem too picked over. By the amount of walkers that were still in the store, that was the reason why it hadn't been completely emptied out.

Twenty minutes and several close calls later had the group splitting up to find exactly what they needed. Tyreese went off to the clothes, knowing that everyone needed new clothing. Glenn went off to look for anything in the canned food section that would still be good. Michonne went into the hardware section of the store to look for tools. To the surprise of everyone, Daryl went off to look for the extra things that people asked for. They had cleared the place of the walkers already, so they took their time.

The extra items that people asked were typically items of comfort from their past lives; books or soft pillows. Hell, someone had even asked for them to find old cell phones. Just to have one on them even though there was no reason to ever have a cell phone in the apocalypse. Kids would ask for toys or chocolate or candy.

Daryl filled up the trash bag with requests from the list, walking along the aisles in the dollar toy aisle until he came across a bag of plastic eggs. It seemed like fate that he'd find them like this. He'd been thinking about Carol and Easter Egg hunts since she said she missed doing them, missed seeing kids doing them. They had a good amount of kids at the prison, this was something they could enjoy. Daryl had no idea if it was even close to Easter, but the kids could use something to distract themselves from this shit hole. They were still kids and needed the chance to _be _kids in a world where they couldn't be kids very often. Daryl shoved a few bags of the plastic eggs into the trash bag, making a quick stop at the candy aisle to find something to reward the kid who found the most eggs.

"Craving something sweet?" Daryl jumped when he heard Glenn's voice next to him and he turned to look at the Korean. Daryl shot him a glare as he shoved a bag full of candy into his bag. He thought about Carol asking him if he ever did Easter Egg hunts. He never had, he didn't know a lot about them. He was sure he had everything to do one, but he wasn't sure.

It was just Glenn, they were friends. They teased each other like brothers and friends were supposed to but if they needed help they could go to each other. He glanced over at Glenn and cleared his throat. "Ya ever do one of them Egg hunts at Easter?" Glenn looked up at Daryl as he opened one of the candy bars and took a bite of it.

"When I was a kid, yeah." Glenn said. He frowned, why was he asking about Easter Egg Hunts? "Why? Wanna go hunt eggs with me?" He teased.

"Naw, man." Daryl said and nudged him. "Was thinkin' the kids could use.. Ya know, a treat or shit." Glenn raised an eyebrow at the rough redneck, there was no way Daryl Dixon came up with that on his own. "But uh, I ain't ever done one before. Don't know what uh.."

Glenn cut him off. As much as he liked embarrassing Daryl, it was painful to see Daryl ask for help. "Eggs, obviously. Typically stuff to put inside the plastic eggs. And a reward for who gets the most." Glenn picked up a second bag of candies, much smaller pieces that could be stuffed in the little eggs and shoved it in Daryl's bag. He slapped his hand on his bar shoulder and chuckled. "You're a softy, Dixon." He said.

"Tell anyone and I'll put an arrow in yer ass."

* * *

Daryl sat up in the watch tower with the bag of eggs on one side and the bag of candies on his other side. He was on the floor, but he was tall enough that he could see over the edge of the tower to keep his eyes on what was going on out there. No one was going to bother him up here, so he was able to do it. He wanted the eggs to be done already by the time that he took them down to Carol to show her. He didn't want Carol to have to do it herself, she already did enough. So he suffered through pulling the eggs apart, stuffing a small amount of the fake grass he'd picked up and the candies inside of the eggs. This was annoying as fuck, why had he decided to go out and do this?

Right, just to see Carol smile. "Fuckin' pussy." Daryl mumbled to himself as he shut another pink egg and tossed it to the side where there was a pile of eggs he'd finished earlier.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Daryl heard a familiar voice say. He dropped the plastic green egg he was prying apart and looked up from his spot on the floor to see Carol standing in front of him, her hands resting on her hips. There was a smile on her face at the sight of Daryl Dixon sitting on the floor filling plastic eggs with fake grass and candy. Normally Daryl and her talked after dinner, but after he finished eating he went straight up to the watch tower. She gave him space before deciding to head up and see what he was doing.

He shrugged and looked down at the green egg in his hand. "Saw the eggs on the run.. Thought the kids would like to.. Ya know." He looked up at her and squinted. Carol smiled and she moved to sit on the floor across from him, picking up one of the eggs and opened it up. She filled the egg up with fake grass and a few of the candies, glancing up at him with a smile as she closed it back up. He smiled slightly and took the egg from her, putting it in the pile of already done eggs.

They didn't talk as they filled the eggs up, there was nothing to be said. Carol smiled while she filled up the eggs with him, loving that Daryl picked up plastic eggs to give the kids an Egg hunt. Neither of them knew if it was even around Easter but this was the perfect thing for the kids to do.

Carol just wished that Sophia was alive to join in.

"Is that all of them?" Carol asked as she looked in the bag and saw that they had done all of them.

"Cept the ones I broke." He nodded towards the plastic eggs that he'd broken when he first started. Carol couldn't help but grin, thinking of the amount of frustration that he had gone through while trying to do this. Daryl shoved the eggs back into the bag. "Figure we can do this in a few days. Go out and hide 'em for the kids, let 'em run around and be kids." Carol stood to her feet, holding her hand out for Daryl.

Daryl didn't need help getting up, but he liked taking her hand. Her skin was soft and gentle, of course he liked it. Daryl took her hand and pulled himself up, looking down at her. They stood just inches apart for several minutes, looking at each other. "Wanna fool around?" She asked.

Daryl scoffed. Why did she have to say things like that? Didn't she know the affect she had on him? Daryl was slightly ashamed to admit that he had thought about it before, thought about doing the things that she had suggested. You weren't supposed to have thoughts like that about good women like Carol. "Stop." Daryl mumbled, a blush forming on his face. Carol let out a soft laugh, wondering when he was going to take her up on the offer. She didn't know how much more obvious she had to be with him.

Carol reached forward and took the bag of eggs from him, looking up at him with those wide blue eyes that kept Daryl up at night. "Did you get a reward for whoever wins?" Carol asked, resting her hand on her hip.

"Big ol' chocolate bar. Should still be good."

"Chocolate bars have a shelf life of seven years, so yes." Carol said. Daryl looked down at her, wondering where that random ass fact came from. "I'll see you in the morning, Daryl." She said softly.

Daryl nodded. "G'night, Carol." He said, watching as she left the tower and walked back to the prison. He watched until she disappeared from his sight and he sat back in a chair, staying on watch until he was relieved by Tyreese.

* * *

"Alright, ya guys ready? Daryl put out fifty eggs, the kid who gets the most eggs gets this nice big chocolate bar!" Carol said, lifting up the king size candy bar. "Notice I said kid, Glenn." She gave Glenn a pointed look.

"That's just cruel." Glenn said, crossing his arms. Maggie nudged him and Carol let out a soft laugh, turning head back to the small group of children.

"Ready guys?" The kids, ranging from age six to fourteen, nodded. "Alright, go! You have one hour starting now!" Carol said, turning the old egg timer to an hour. The kids ran out into the cleared out field to find the eggs. "No pushing!" She called after them, turning her head to look up at her partner-in-crime, Daryl. "You've done a good thing, Daryl."

He shrugged and looked out at the kids in the field as they ran around. "Yeah, I guess." Carol nudged him and smiled, leaning against his arm a moment longer than she needed to, wanting to stay close to him. She smiled and glanced up at him before turning her attention to the kids in the field.

As the kids collected the eggs, Daryl worried about having hid them too well. He didn't want any of the kids to not be able to find them. He, Carol, Glenn, and Rick (with Judith in his arms) watched as the kids looked for the eggs until the time limit was up.

The adults counted the eggs until they found a winner, a little girl named Stephanie. She was only seven years old, both of her parents had died and she was here with her grandma. Daryl knelt down to the girls height to hand her the chocolate bar, a soft smile forming on his lips as the shy little girl took the bar from him.

"Thanks, Mr. Dixon!" She exclaimed as she held the bar in her arms. Stephanie looked up at Daryl, wringing her hands together before throwing her arms around the rough redneck. The hug took Daryl by surprise and he almost pushed the kid away. He fought that urge away and loosely wrapped one arm around the kid, glancing up at Carol with a slight smile.

Carol grinned down at Daryl as Stephanie pulled away and ran over to the group of kids, opening the chocolate bar and sharing it with the other kids. It did her heart good to see that. Daryl stood to his feet and stood next to Carol, attempting to fight the grin that was on his face.

"Did good, right?" He asked, looking down at Carol.

Carol turned her head to look up at him and she smiled. "You did so good, Mr. Dixon." She teased.

"Oh, stop." Daryl said, glancing back at the kids as they shared a chocolate bar. She smiled at him and bit down on her bottom lip.

"You really did, Daryl. You're a good person."

Daryl ducked his head down and looked out at the kids. Yeah, suffering through finding those eggs and stuffing all of them was most definitely worth the good vibes.


	5. Five: Suntan

**This is another entry for the USS Caryl Spring Fling challenge. Using the prompt suntan. Most of the prompts I'll be doing for this will be AUs, I didn't see a lot of the words that would work with canon (for me at least) and frankly, I like writing AUs more. Hope you guys like this one!**

* * *

The first time Daryl ever saw Carol was when he and Merle moved into the house next to hers. It was a year after his father died; he was sixteen when it happened, seventeen years now. It had taken him the better part of a year to track down his other brother, Merle, but when he was able to and Merle found out that their father had died leaving Daryl to go into foster care, he returned home and got clean just long enough for him to gain custody of his little brother. Right after he and Daryl left town, he started using again.

Life with Merle wasn't always easy. He was high all the time, left Daryl alone for weeks at a time, and his customers were always coming at all times of the day. Life wasn't always easy with Merle Dixon, but it was better than life with Will Dixon.

Merle and Daryl were carrying boxes into the house when her saw her. He'd put a box down in the living room and stood straight, his eyes looking out the window. His eyes stopped when he noticed two girls out in the backyard next to pool in lawn chairs. They were both thin and attractive, least from what he could tell from his spot in the living room. One girl was a blonde, the other a brunette. They were both in small bikinis, both freaking gorgeous. In the pool were two guys and two more girls, but Daryl didn't pay much attention to them.

Daryl ducked his head in shame when the brunette that he had been staring at turned her head to look at him when he was pointed out to her by one of the guys in the pool. When he glanced up, the brunette had a smile on her face and she was waving towards him. He brought his hand up for an awkward wave, biting the inside of his cheek. She had to be his age, maybe a bit older. She was far too beautiful to ever go for him.

He continued to stare at the brunette that was sunbathing until he heard Merle walk into the house.

"The hell ya doin', boy? That box don't go in the livin' room, take it in the basement." Merle said, coming up behind his brother. He whacked his brother upside the head.

"Sorry, Merle." He mumbled and knelt down to pick up the box again.

Merle glanced from the girls outside and looked back at his little brother, smirking. "Be fuckin' careful with that." He called after his brother.

"Yes, Merle." He mumbled and went down to the basement to store the box in there. Daryl didn't even want to know what was inside the box, though he had several ideas. He walked back upstairs and glanced out the window again as he walked out to the truck to get another one of the boxes.

An hour later, Daryl and Merle were sitting on the floor in the living room, both smoking cigarettes. They needed to go out and buy furniture, but neither of them wanted to do it. They were hungry and sore, tired from all the work they'd done.

"Why don't you.." Merle reached back into his back pocket, pulling his wallet out. He pulled a few twenties out of his wallet and handed them over to Daryl. "go get us some dinner? Pizza or somethin'." Daryl nodded and took the money from Merle, putting out his cigarette before standing to his feet.

* * *

"Carol, there's some guy looking at you." Shane Walsh said, a firm frown on his face as he looked up at the window in the house next door and saw some kid staring out.

Carol lifted her head head up and turned her head to look in the direction Shane had pointed out. He was right, there was most certainly someone looking at her and Andrea as they were out getting a tan. He was cute, maybe a year or two younger than she was. He had short, messy brown hair. She looked up at him and grinned as he ducked his head shyly. She smiled and waited until he glanced back up and she brought her hand up to wave at him. Carol watched as he brought his hand up in an awkward wave. She kept eye contact with him for a moment before she turned back to her friends.

"What? He's cute. Looks harmless enough." Carol said, leaning back against the lawn chair. Carol and Andrea sat out on the deck for a little bit longer before Rick, Lori, Shane and Michonne got out of the pool and flicked water at the two dry girls. Carol squealed as Shane and Rick picked up her and Andrea, tossing them both into the pool.

Carol came up from the water and shook her hair out from the water, spitting out pool water. "You guys are assholes!" Carol exclaimed as she climbed out of the pool and picked up her towel. Rick grinned and nudged Carol.

"Definitely not sorry." Shane said as he wrapped a towel around himself. She rolled her eyes at her friend and dried herself off before she went into her house.

Carol Watson was nineteen years old, back home from Georgia State for the summer where she was studying Education as a major and Psychology as a minor. She loved college but there was nothing like being home, even if it was just the house her and four friends lived in. The house was left to Shane Walsh after his parents died and he invited his friends to move in for the summer. It was free housing, so why not?

Carol went into her bedroom and removed her bathing suit. After taking a quick shower to rinse the chlorine off her body and out of her hair, she dressed in shorts and an off the shoulder t-shirt. Carol went back outside and sat on one of the chairs, glancing up at the window again. The boy from earlier had been joined by someone that was older than her, but they looked similar enough to be related. As Shane babbled on about something, Carol watched as the younger boy got up and left. She was intrigued by him, couldn't explain that.

"Carol, are ya listenin'?" Shane asked. Shane's voice brought her back to reality and she turned to look at Shane.

"Sorry, what?" She asked, setting her hands on her thighs. Shane frowned at the fact that she was ignoring him but he repeated what he'd said.

"I said Rick and I are gonna go get dinner and some wood for a bonfire tonight. What are you in the mood for?" Shane asked.

"Actually, I want some burgers. Why don't you guys just go get stuff for burgers and we can use the grill? It's a nice grill, we shouldn't only eat take out." Carol said.

Lori nodded. "That's sounds great. Rick and I will go get groceries, why don't you and Andrea go get the wood and stuff for s'mores? Carol and Michonne are the only ones I trust to touch our food."

"That's because none of you people know how to cook." Michonne said from her spot at the edge of the pool.

Carol and Michonne worked in the kitchen together to make French Fries and potato salad while their friends left. They had met in middle school and they'd be friends since then. Michonne was going to school in New York at a Culinary school, she had dreams of opening her own restaurant. Carol loved eating Michonne's food and she loved cooking with her even more. Michonne was always teaching her new techniques and getting them to try new foods.

When Carol heard a door shut, she had figured it was Rick or Shane and she left the house to greet them and help them take stuff in but when she left the house, she realized that it was neither of them and it was the kid next door. "Hey, Michonne, I'll be right back." Carol said from over her shoulder and she left the house, walking across the grass. "Hey." Carol said from behind him.

The kid jumped and he turned around, almost dropping the pizza boxes in his hands. "Uh, hey.." He said, ducking his head. "I uh.. I'm sorry about.. Staring." He stuttered out.

Carol grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Don't be." She said, slipping her hands into the pockets of her jean shorts. "I'm Carol."

The boy turned around and pushed his door shut behind him, leaning against the door. "M'Daryl." He said softly. Carol had to strain to hear it.

She smiled and licked her lips. "First night in a new house?"

Daryl glanced up at the house and looked back to Carol. "Yeah. M' brother and I just moved in. We're from Georgia, thought we could have a new start here."

Carol smiled softly. "I actually go to college in Georgia. Georgia State."

_Of course she's a college girl. _Daryl thought to himself as he looked at her. Daryl was a high school dropout, dropped out his sixteenth birthday. He opened his mouth to speak but he noticed a truck pulling up behind her. Carol turned her head and noticed Rick and Lori climb out of his truck. Behind them was Shane and Andrea. She knew she'd have to get back soon to finish dinner, but she turned back to look at Daryl.

"We're gonna have a bonfire later tonight. S'mores, y'know." Carol gave him a friendly smile. "Come on by if you feel like, your brother too."

"Carol, come on! Gotta get dinner done!" Shane called out to her from the porch.

"Yeah, I'll be right there, calm down!" Carol looked back at him then turned back to Daryl.

"Dunno, Merle ain't real good around other people. Barely good 'round me." Carol pursed her lips and nodded, shrugging her shoulders.

"Still, you can come over tonight if you want to." She said and started to walk away from him and turned around. Daryl watched her for a few moments, ignoring when Merle called for him to come inside. He just continued to watch her. Carol turned to look at him and she smiled. "I hope you come by."

Carol smiled as she ducked into the house to continue cooking with Michonne. She'd have to sunbathe outside more often.


	6. Six: Grass

**Prompts used: Grass, grass stains, lawn mower.**

**Oh how I love Daddy!Daryl.  
**

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"Dad, I can do it on my own!" 12 year old Lucas Dixon argued with his father as he tried to convince his father to let him mow the lawn by himself for once. Daryl always helped Lucas do it, it was what they did on Sunday mornings. Maybe his first born son and eldest child was getting a little old to need his fathers help, but it had been tradition for the last five years for Daryl and Lucas to mow the lawn on Sunday.

Daryl grumbled as he gave in and pulled away to pull the lawn mowers cord for his kid. "Alright, ya can do it yerself? Wanna see ya try." Daryl stepped away from Lucas and walked up to the front porch, standing on the porch as he watched Lucas try to push the lawn mower on his own. Lucas was strong enough to push it, but he wasn't strong enough to push it in a straight line. He crossed his arms and stood on the porch, watching with an amused smirk on his face as the lines turned out curved.

"What is our son doing?" Daryl turned his head as he looked at his wife, who was standing next to him with their four year old daughter, Sophia, on her hip. He turned back to nod at his kid, who was still trying with all of his might to mow the lawn in a straight line.

"Said he could do it on his own, said I wanted to see him try. Ain't admitted he can't do it yet." Carol frowned as she set Sophia on the front porch and the four year old moved to sit on the swing that sat on the front porch.

Carol was most unamused with her husband. "He's a male Dixon, he is not going to admit that he can't do it."

Daryl snorted. He knew how stubborn he could be, knew how stubborn his brother was, knew how stubborn his Daddy was, knew how stubborn every male in the Dixon line was. Carol was right, Lucas was not going to admit that he couldn't do it. "Gonna have ta redo it, then." Carol rolled her eyes at her husband and patted his shoulder, leaning up to kiss his cheek softly.

"Don't be so hard on Luke, he is your son after all." Daryl glanced over at his wife as she went inside, letting out a sigh. She was right, he was being too hard on Lucas. Daryl walked down the steps and waved his son back over to him, patting his shoulder when Luke made his way back to Daryl.

"Alright, kid, good try. Still think ya don't need yer old man?" Lucas glanced up at his father and looked away from him, shrugging. "Lets start over, Lucas." Lucas was thankful his father wasn't going to make him admit that he still needed his father to help him with things like this.

Daryl and Lucas finished mowing the lawn together, sitting on the freshly mowed grass with Sophia while they drank lemonade Carol had brought out. Carol and Sophia sat curled up together on the ground while Daryl and Lucas wrestled. It was part of their Sunday tradition; after Daryl and Lucas mowed the lawn they would wrestle on the lawn then they'd have Uncle Merle and Aunt Andrea over for dinner, Lucas would help Merle and Carol in the kitchen while Daryl and Andrea watched the race together. Carol was never a fan of racing, but her husband and longtime friend enjoyed it. Merle liked it too, but Andrea always told him to help Carol in the kitchen and Merle knew better than to cross his wife. The women that married to the Dixon name more than lived up to it.

"Merle and Andrea still coming over for dinner?" Carol asked as Daryl entered the laundry room just off the bathroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He dropped his dirty clothes into the hamper, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing his damn chest against her back. Carol squirmed slightly and turned her head to look at him.

"Course. Andrea never misses a chance to not have to cook for Merle and Merle never passes up a free meal." Daryl leaned down and kissed his wifes shoulder gently. "Should have joined me in the shower." He mumbled as he kissed up her shoulder and neck.

Carol let out a soft moan as she continued to scrub the grass stain on Lucas' jeans. "I have things to do, Daryl." Carol said softly and licked her lips. Daryl rest his head on her shoulder as she scrubbed the stain in attempt to get it out. He let out a low chuckle and pulled away from her, leaving the bathroom to go to their bedroom to dress. He returned to the bathroom, setting a bottle down on top of the washer.

"Vinegar. How many times do I gotta tell you? Vinegar." Daryl said and pressed his lips against her cheek.

Daryl left the bathroom to find his kids in the living room watching television. He picked up Sophia and set her on his lap as he sat down, watching television with his kids. From the bathroom he could hear a groan of frustration leaving Carol's mouth. He smirked and looked down at his daughter, kissing her cheek softly.

Carol finished removing the stains from her son and husbands jeans, putting them in the washer afterward. She left the bathroom and walked into the living room, sitting between her husband and her son. "Don't even say it, Daryl." She said as Daryl smirked and pressed a kiss on top of her forehead.

Damn did Daryl love being right.


	7. Seven: New Life

**Another entry for the USS Caryl Spring Fling challenge. Using the prompt new life. Like I mentioned before, most of these ideas are all AUs. Actually, all of them but the very last one are AUs. Happy Reading and Caryl on!**

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"Do we have everything?" Daryl Dixon asked as Carol Peletier came down the stairs, holding a bag in her hand as she cradled her broken arm against her stomach. Mentally, Carol went down a checklist to see if she had everything that she was going to take with her. Carol pulled her wedding ring of her finger and held it in her hand. "Gonna leave that here or.."

"No use in pawning it. Not even a real diamond." Carol said as she stopped in front of Daryl at the bottom of the stairs. She glanced up at her longtime friend and walked past him to walk into her kitchen. Daryl followed between her, watching as she stopped in front of her sink and dropped the ring into the drain, flipping the switch for the the garbage disposal. Daryl jumped as it turned on and he heard the ring get destroyed.

Daryl learned against the counter, watching as Carol turned off the disposal. "Probably gonna fuck the garbage disposal up." He said.

Carol shrugged. "Let Ed deal with it." He smirked and watched as she picked her bag up. "The rest of the bags in the truck?" Carol asked.

"Everything we need, yeah."

"Thanks for... This."

"Ain't jus' doing it for ya." Daryl said as he and Carol left Carol's house for the last time. He helped her get into his truck, which was harder for her to do with only one arm in use. She turned to look at Daryl once he was in the truck and she'd done her seat belt up, smiling softly.

"I know." Carol said and shrugged. "Still."

Daryl glanced over at Carol and let out a light laugh before he turned back to the truck and started the engine up. "No turning back now." He said as he started to pull out of her driveway.

"I wouldn't turn back if you paid me."

Daryl and Carol were both running from something, from someone. Carol was running away from her abusive husband, Ed, and Daryl was running from his older brother, Merle. Daryl had been thinking of taking off for the last few months, tired with the way Merle was acting lately, but he'd continued to stay around because of Carol. They'd been friends since they were kids, they'd always been there for each other since they were kids. Nothing could keep the friends apart, not Ed or Merle – and not for a lack of trying.

While Daryl had also been thinking of taking off and getting out of town, he'd been trying to convince Carol to go with him. She wanted to, but she was always terrified that Ed would find her. When he broken her arm for the third time this year, Carol had finally decided that she had enough and told Daryl she'd go with him. They had decided on a small town in Oregon across the country called Adams. For all of Carol's research, she learned that the town was incredibly small, there was just under 300 people that lived there. She was even able to find out that there were apartments for rent there, cheap ones too. They'd be able to have a new life there, without Ed or Merle ruining it for them.

It had taken a little over a week for them to drive across the country, counting stopping for food and to sleep. They tried to stop as little as they could, needing to save what money they had. When they got to Adams, Oregon, they used what little money they had to rent an apartment. It was a one bedroom, one bath apartment with a back patio and a small kitchen, but it was fine for both of them. Daryl insisted that Carol took the bedroom to herself and he'd sleep on the couch, despite Carol insisting that they were both adults and could sleep in the same bed until they could buy a second bed. She gave in to his insistence, knowing there was no way Daryl would give in.

Daryl got a job working at a local mechanics, he was always really good with his hands and good with cars. Carol took a job at a restaurant as a waitress, which wasn't the easiest job to do when she only had one arm to use but she managed. The first few weeks in a new town were hard, they were both terrified and paranoid that every time someone knocked on the door or called that it would be Ed or Merle. It never was, but that never stopped them from being scared that it was. It took almost a month for that to even start to go away.

Aside from that, their new life was working out just fine.

It was a month after they moved to Adams that Carol and Daryl had their first kiss. It was after dinner and they were sitting out on their patio enjoying the cool air. Carol's reasoning for sitting out on the patio was simply that she liked doing it, liked sitting next to him. She liked the cold air, liked how it felt on her body. Daryl's reasoning, however, was the opposite. He said he liked it doing it so he could keep an eye out on the town, so he could keep watch. Carol suspected that he liked it just to be outside too, but Daryl would never admit something like that. At least not willingly.

Carol turned her head to look at Daryl, watching him as he lifted the bottle of beer to his mouth and took a long drink from it. She watched him for a few moments, crossing her legs. She'd always been attracted to Daryl, but she'd always been dating someone else. In high school it was a boy named Walter, in college it was Ed. There was never a time for her and Daryl to have anything. Maybe now would be... Maybe now they could have a chance. A hundred thoughts ran through her mind, but the only thing that was on her mind was pressing her lips into Daryl's.

So she did it. When Daryl looked over at her, she leaned over and pressed her lips into his. Daryl was surprised as she kissed him, he'd never expected her to do that even though he most definitely wanted her to.

"Did ya mean to do that?" Daryl asked as she pulled away. A blush formed on Carol's face and she nodded. "Oh.." He mumbled, glancing down at his feet. Carol was worried about his reaction until he looked back at her and spoke again. "Good." He gave her a crooked grin. Carol smiled and she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Can I do it again?" Carol asked permission this time.

Instead of answering, Daryl leaned over and covered her lips with his.


	8. Eight: Picnic

**i don't know. here's a thing for the spring fling. i laughed at that because it rhymes. hope you did too. word prompts used: picnic & bubbles. i'm posting two of these today because i'm so close to the deadline, so you'll get a double dose of spring caryl today!**

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"I hate picnics." Daryl grumbled as he watched his wife prepare sandwiches for a picnic they were going to take later in the day. He hated doing them, they did them on Friday after their girls got from school. They would go down to the local park fifteen minutes from their house after they did their homework and would eat sandwiches and potato salad, then Carol and Daryl rest on the blanket while they each drank a beer cleverly discussed in a Verners soda bottle and the girls played. It was Friday tradition but Daryl hated it.

Daryl wasn't used to being a family man, even if his twin girls were eight years old now. He was used to it just being himself and Merle, going from town to town. That's how it was for the Dixon brothers, that's how it was for ten years. Then Merle got arrested for attempting to rob a convenience store and suddenly it was just Daryl. He got a job at a diner, where he ended up meeting Carol Potter. Carol hated Daryl when they first met, thought he was a rude jackass – which was kind of the truth. Daryl was rude and he was a jackass most of the time.

Daryl, however, was a lot nicer than Carol had thought and he had noticed when she had stopped eating because she just didn't have time to, she was always studying. She was going to medical school, she wanted to be a nurse. He'd noticed how much thinner she'd gotten. One night when it was just them at the diner and there wasn't anyone else there, Carol was taking the time to study for an exam she had coming up. Daryl had walked over to her and set a plate next to her, he had made her dinner knowing that she would probably go home and not eat there either so he'd made her a cheeseburger and a plate of fries. It made Carol realize that Daryl wasn't a bad guy. They started talking that night and Carol ended up not studying at all that night, she spent almost all night talking with Daryl.

Fast forward two years after that night and they'd welcomed twin girls, Sophia and Stephanie. They'd gotten married just after that at Study Hall and bought a small two bedroom house. Friday night picnics didn't start until the girls had turned four and were going to kindergarten, it was a nice way for them to celebrate a week well done. Nowadays, Daryl owned an Auto Body Shop in town and Carol worked at the local clinic as a nurse. They'd done really well for themselves.

"Yeah, yeah, and yet you go on them every single Friday with us." Carol said, putting each of the sandwiches in a plastic bag before she walked over to the fridge and set them in the fridge to keep them cold. She walked back to the stove and began to make the potato salad. Daryl leaned against the counter and slipped both of his hands in his pockets.

"Girls love it." Daryl shrugged. She glanced over at him as she peeled the potatoes over a bowl to catch the skins, a small smile on her face.

"And you're just a big softie that wants to make his girls happy." Carol said, setting the peeled potatoes in a second bowl as she was finished.

"Don't tell anyone." He mumbled. Carol smiled softly and leaned over to kiss his cheek. Daryl smiled slightly and crossed his arms over his chest. Carol glanced up at her husband and finished peeling the potatoes, slicing them up and dropping the chopped up potatoes in the bowl. She moved onto the onions.

"Writing a letter to Merle right now." Carol teased. Daryl playfully growled at his wife and he took a step over to her, leaning down to bite her shoulder. Carol laughed softly and pulled her shoulder from him.

"Stop it, the girls are going to be home soon."

Daryl smirked softly and nipped at her shoulder again before pulling away from her. "Yeah, I know." He said and leaned against the counter. Carol finished the potato salad just minutes before the bus stopped in front of their house to drop their twin girls off. Carol put the salad in the fridge and wiped down the counter as Daryl left the house to walk down to the end of their driveway. They had a long driveway and neither of them liked the idea of the girls walking down it alone. Daryl was always there waiting for them everyday at the end of the driveway to wait for his girls, no matter how busy it was his shop.

He crossed his arms over his chest as the bus stopped in front of the house and the doors of the bus opened. Sophia came off the bus first, Stephanie following behind. Daryl gave an awkward wave to the bus driver as the girls ran up to him. "Daddy!" They squealed, throwing their arms around their father.

Daryl grinned as the girls hugged him, resting a hand on each of their backs. He might not be used to being a family man, might just be used to it being him and his brother, then just him but he really loved being a Dad. "Hey girls." He said and wrapped his arms around their thin shoulders. "How was school?" Daryl asked as they walked up to the house.

"Good." They echoed each other. Daryl grinned. The three of them went into the house where Carol was waiting for them inside the kitchen.

"Hi Mom!" Sophia and Stephanie said at the same time as they pulled their backpacks off of their backs and set them on the table.

"Hi girls." Carol said and kissed Stephanie's head then Sophia's. "How was school?" Like they had with their father, both girls told their mother their day was good. "I'll make you guys a snack, go upstairs and start your homework."

After a snack and the girls finished their homework, Carol packed up the picnic basket and the Dixon family went down to the park. They went to their normal spot to eat their dinner, the girls taking off to play after they finished. Daryl started in on one of his beers, leaving his arm wrapped around Carol's shoulder blades as they watched their girls play with bubble wands. Alright, he liked having picnics.

"I hate bubbles." He grumbled, watching as the girls got the bubbles on their clothes. Carol wondered if Daryl was miserable unless he had something to hate and complain about.

Carol grinned at her husband and picked up one of the small bottles of bubbles, opening it and pulling the wand out. She turned her head to look at him and she blew a single bubble, giggling when it landed on his nose.

"How old are you again?" Daryl asked as the bubble landed on his nose.

"42." Carol grinned and shut the bottle of bubbles, setting them off to the side.

"Ya sure about that?" Daryl asked as Carol leaned up to kiss him. The bubble popped as they kissed and Carol laughed softly upon feeling the bubble burst. Daryl scrunched his nose and pulled away from her, looking down at the look on his wife's face. Daryl couldn't help but smile when she smiled at him, her smile was contagious.

He still hated bubbles.


	9. Nine: Thunderstorms

**Typically I make Carol like storms, but I liked the idea of her not liking them and searching out Daryl for comfort and him knowing exactly how to calm her. Entry for the USS Spring Fling. :-)**

* * *

Carol's eyes opened when she first heard the noises of the rain pounding on the roof of the prison. She sighed softly, there was no way she'd be able to sleep with the rain pounding on the roof, it was far too loud. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling of her cell, pulling the thin blanket over her chest.

"Supposed to storm tonight." A voice from outside her cell said. She sat up a bit, wondering if the voice was talking to her. Carol recognized the voice, it was Daryl Dixon.

"Are you a weather man, Daryl?" A second voice said. She recognized this one as Rick Grimes, she knew he was about to go on watch.

Daryl snorted. "I can tell from the sky, dipshit. I know ya got watch tonight but with the storm, Jude's gonna be cryin' up a storm. Figured I'd take watch."

"Alright, man." Rick knew that Daryl liked watching storms, didn't much understand it himself. "Sure Carl will appreciate not havin' to try to keep her quiet." Carol chuckled to herself, lying back in the bed. She really hoped it didn't storm tonight, she hated thunderstorms.

Daryl glanced in on Carol's cell to see if she was awake, giving her a quick nod and a small smile. She smiled softly and looked up at him. Daryl ducked his head and turned to walk towards the watch tower.

Carol rolled over onto her side and lifted the second pillow up and pulled the pillow over her head in attempt to try to shut out the sounds of the rain. She didn't know why she hated thunderstorms but she just always hated them, ever since she was a little girl. Her mother had tried to make her feel better about it, telling her it was just God bowling. It never helped her before and it sure as hell wasn't going to help her now.

She curled up in her bed and squeezed her eyes shut. She was just able to fall asleep when the first crash of thunder shook the prison. Carol sat up straight in the bed and she tossed the second pillow onto the floor. Jesus, she hated thunderstorms.

Carol pulled her boots on and picked up a sweatshirt, pulled it over her head and pulled the hood up over her head. If she wasn't going to be able to sleep now, she might as well go make herself useful.

She left the cell block and went up to the watch tower, climbing the ladder and poking her head up. Daryl was sitting on the chair, holding his head in his hands. His crossbow sat next to him on a chair. Carol smiled softly and she had an image of Daryl in a truck with the crossbow buckled up next to him. A soft giggle escaped her lips, which drew Daryl's attention to her finally.

Daryl jumped when he heard Carol laughing and he turned to look at her. "Fuckin' Christ." Carol climbed the rest of the way up the ladder and moved to sit with her back facing the sky, looking at the wall behind him.

"Sorry." She said, pulling her legs close to her chest and pulling the sweatshirt over her legs.

Daryl opened his mouth to ask what she was doing up here, but he knew what she was doing up here. He knew Carol hated thunderstorms. He stayed silent, watching Carol instead of the sky like he was supposed to. She pressed her feet into the concrete, leaning her head back. With each crash of thunder, Carol jumped and cringed when the lightning struck. Even when she knew it was coming, she jumped and cringed. Daryl found it distracting see her jump from the corner of his eye, he was trying to watch the storm.

"C'mere." Daryl said, patting the side of his leg. Carol raised an eyebrow at Daryl, only moving forward when he told her to come over again. She pulled the sweatshirt from her legs and crawled over to sit next to Daryl. She avoided looking up at the sky, jerking when another crash of thunder happened and the lightning struck again.

It took a few moments, but Daryl slowly brought his hand up to rest on her shoulder blade. Carol smiled softly as she felt his fingers trail between her shoulders. Her eyes slowly shut and she turned her head to rest her chin on his knee.

Carol still jumped with each crash of thunder, but she didn't jump near as high as she did before Daryl put his hand on her.

As the storm started to die down, Carol turned her head to look up at him. "Thank you." She whispered, reaching back to take his hand as he came around her left shoulder. Daryl glanced down at her as she gave his hand a light squeeze and a smile formed on his face as he turned back to watch the storm.


	10. Ten: Nightmares

**Hahahahaha haah ha ah ah this is painful but I hope you all like it anyway.**

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Daryl was sitting on the couch in the living room of his girlfriends house, watching her television alone when he heard the screaming coming from upstairs. There were only two people in the house right now; him and his girlfriends twelve year old daughter, Sophia. The screaming startled him, bringing him out of his half awake daze. He thought she'd been sleeping.

Was there someone in the house? Was someone hurting her?

Daryl bolted from his spot on the couch and half jogged half ran down the hallway and up the stairs, stopping at Sophia's open door. The little girl was sitting up in bed, breathing heavily with her large pink teddy bear clenched in her hands. Daryl reached his hand up and flipped the light switch on, frowning as he looked down at her.

"Ya okay?" He asked.

Sophia turned her attention to look up at her mothers boyfriend and she nodded slowly.

"Nightmare?" Daryl asked. She nodded again, holding the teddy bear against her chair. He let out a heavy sigh and walked over to her. He couldn't just let her deal with a nightmare on her own, he remembered having nightmares as a kid and having to deal with them on his own because his Daddy and Merle were too busy being jackasses to worry about him.

Sophia watched Daryl come towards her and moved over just a bit in her small, twin size bed to let Daryl in the bed. She liked Daryl, he was much kinder than her father had ever been. "Gonna tell me what yer nightmare was about?" Daryl asked. Sophia sniffled and looked up at him.

"Zombies." Sophia admitted. Oh, jeez. This was his fault. He'd let her watch _Night of the Living Dead _earlier in the day, despite Carol telling him that she didn't like scary movies. Sophia wanted to watch it, so Daryl had let her. Even though he'd been around for the better part of the year, Daryl was still trying to make Sophia like him. Hell, he was still trying to make Carol like him. He didn't understand that they already liked him, he didn't need to try so hard.

Daryl snorted in an attempt not to laugh. "Zombies?" He asked. Sophia nodded.

"I got separated from you and Mom." Daryl frowned as Sophia looked down at her hands, sniffling again. "No one came to find me, I was just gone out there." Sophia's tears started again and Daryl pursed his lips, lifted his arm up and wrapped an arm around her and tugged her against his side. Sophia was surprised when she felt herself being held by Daryl, he didn't seem like the type to hold someone when they were upset.

He wasn't good at comforting people, he couldn't comfort Carol very well when she was upset either. But Sophia was just a little girl who had a nightmare of them leaving her out the zombie apocalypse and no one coming to find her, he needed to comfort her. He couldn't let her cry and he couldn't let her think that he'd leave her out there.

"Listen, kid." Daryl said. Sophia wiped her cheeks off and looked up at Daryl. "First off, zombie's ain't fuckin' real." She let out a soft giggle at Daryl cursing, she was still a little kid. "So zombies ain't gonna come up from the ground. But if they ever did and by some fuckin' chance ya got away from yer mom 'n me, there wouldn't be a damn thing that would be able to stop me from bringing ya back to us, ya hear?"

Sophia smiled softly, that made her feel a lot better about her dream. She dropped the teddy bear and wrapped her arms around Daryl. "Thank you, Daryl."

Daryl smiled softly and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Feel better?" Sophia nodded and pulled her arms away from him, sensing how nervous he was with her hugging him. She leaned back against her bed and watched as Daryl climbed off her bed and moved to the door, turning on the hallway light so there would be a light for her. She smiled and glanced up at the door as she snuggled back into her bed. He shut off the light and moved to shut the door part of the way, stopping when she spoke. "Daryl?"

"Yeah, Sophia?" He asked, turning the light back on so he could see her.

"What if my Dad comes back?"

Daryl growled at the thought of Ed Peletier getting out of jail and trying to come back. "Yer Dad show up 'round here, I'll beat 'is fuckin' head in."

Sophia giggled again at his swearing. "Don't worry, I won't tell Mama you keep swearing." Daryl's lips twitched in a smile. "Or that you let me watch a zombie movie."

"Be our little secret." Daryl said softly and shut the door partway.

When Daryl turned around, he jumped and cursed loudly as he saw Carol Peletier standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. Daryl looked down at his feet and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Heard that, huh?" Daryl asked.

"Oh yes." Carol said. She was unamused with her boyfriend, but she was happy with how well he and her daughter had been getting along. Carol glanced in on her daughter and waved to her before she and Daryl went downstairs. "Really, Daryl? A zombie movie?"

"She wanted ta watch it, she was looking up at me with those fuckin' puppy eyes. I know I shouldn't have let 'er watch it." He mumbled. Carol smiled softly and leaned against the counter.

Carol licked her lips and let out a soft sigh. "She have a nightmare?" When Daryl nodded, Carol asked what it was about.

"She got lost and we didn't find her." Carol's heart shattered at the idea of her little girl thinking no one would come for her. "Told her there wouldn't be a damn thing that could stop me from coming for her and bringing her back ta ya." Carol felt an overwhelming sense of the love for the man she'd brought into their lives a year ago. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What if I got lost?" She asked.

Daryl raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. "Ain't nothing that could stop me from bringing you back either."

A smile formed on her face and she leaned up to kiss his lips softly. Daryl returned her kiss, speaking when he pulled away. "So I'm forgiven, then?"

Carol shook her head. "Not at all."


	11. Eleven: First Mothers Day

**There is really nothing to say here. It's Mothers Day and I wanted to write something for Mothers Day for both Marol and Caryl. It's not much and it's kind of lame, but it's something. To any mothers that are reading this, Happy Mothers Day! **

* * *

Daryl rolled over in the bed and wrapped his arm around his wife, tugging her close against his body. He buried his head into her neck, smiling against her skin. He kissed up her neck and smiled as he heard her begin to stir in her sleep.

"Morning." Carol mumbled softly as she felt her husbands mouth on her and she rolled over onto her back, looking up at Daryl Dixon. He looked down at her, a small smile forming on his face.

"Happy Mothers Day." Daryl said and leaned down to press his lips against hers, not caring about the disgusting morning breath as he kissed his wife.

Carol reached up to cup the side of his face, smiling when he pulled away from her. "I'm not a mother yet." Carol said, glancing down at her large belly. Daryl leaned down to pressed his lips against her belly, cupping the side of her stomach. She was nine months pregnant, was actually a week overdue now.

"She ain't here yet, but yer a mother." Daryl said, resting his head on the stomach. "Come on, come out o' there." He urged the unborn child in his wifes stomach.

"Stop, Daryl. She'll come when she's ready and not a day before." He looked up at her and pressed a soft kiss to her stomach again before he sat up and climbed out of the bed. Daryl went to the bathroom and returned a few moments later, toothbrush in his mouth.

"Yeah, I know." He said as he brushed his teeth, leaning against the door frame. "Guess I jus' wanted 'er here for Mothers Day." Carol began to sit up and forced herself out of bed, refusing the help that Daryl offered. She walked past him into the bathroom to use the toilet.

Carol flushed the toilet when she was done, walking over to the sink to wash her hands and start to brush her teeth as Daryl joined her at the sink. "So did I." Carol said, resting her hand over her stomach. "Just not going to happen." She said as she brushed her teeth. Carol spit and rinsed, running her hands through her short hair. "I'm still having lunch with Lori and her kids today. I'll be back before you're home from work..." Carol said and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

Daryl spit and rinsed, opening his mouth to tell her that she should stay home, she could go into labor at any moment. But if there was anyone she should be with if she went into labor, it was Lori Grimes. The woman already had two kids. "I got time to take an extra long shower, wanna join me?" Daryl asked.

Carol looked up at him and licked her lips. "Alright. No funny, business, I know they say sex will help, but I will harm you if you try anything." Daryl held his hands up in surrender before he pulled his t-shirt over his head. He grinned when he looked down at Carol. Carol shook her head and pulled her nightgown over her head, dropping it on the floor as Daryl moved to start the shower. Carol wiggled out of her underwear and climbed into the shower once it was started, standing underneath the shower head.

Daryl joined her in the shower while she was rinsing out shampoo of her hair. He watched his wife before he moved to get his head wet so he could wash his own hair. Daryl washed his short hair quickly, wanting to be done with his own body quickly so he could focus on his wife. He picked up a rag and lathered it up with soap. He was surprised when Carol took the rag from him and began to wash his chest for him, running her fingers over the scars it'd taken years for him to show to her.

She leaned up and pressed her lips against his as she washed his chest before wrapping her arms around his back. "You're gonna be a great Daddy whenever she decides to show up." Carol smiled softly. Daryl looked down at her and his lips twitched up in a smile.

"Ya think?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do. Have you seen the nursery you built for her?" She asked as he turned around so she could wash his back.

"Was nothin', Merle did a lot of it too." Daryl shrugged as he felt her hands run over his scarred back.

"And Merle will be a great Uncle, but that's not the point of this conversation." Carol leaned up to kiss Daryl on the cheek, smiling softly. "I love you." She said softly as Daryl rinsed off his chest and took the rag from her so he could wash his bottom half. He discarded the rag in the corner of the shower before picking up the shower poof she preferred to use and lathered it up with her sweet smelling soap, returning to Carol and running the poof over her shoulders.

"I love you too." Daryl said as he ran the poof over her breasts, then over her stomach and onto her back. He washed her thoroughly, returning to her sensitive breasts several times.

"Didn't I say no funny business?" Carol asked as he returned to her breasts again. He'd discarded the poof now and was just using his hands.

Daryl glanced up at her before capturing her lips against his. "Nothing funny about yer tits, Carol." She smacked his hands away from her breasts and glanced up at him. He let out a light groan but gave in, leaning down to turn off the water. "Not even born yet and that kid has been cock blocking me for four months." He mumbled as he climbed out of the shower and picked up a towel, wrapping it around his waist.

Carol grinned as she climbed out of the shower and picked up her own towel. "You should get used to that for the next eighteen years."

* * *

"Hi Lori!" Carol said as she walked up to the table where Lori Grimes was sitting with seven year old Carl and two year old Judith. She was surprised when she noticed Rick sitting with her as well. "Hey, Rick, I didn't think you'd be joining us." She said as Rick stood to his feet to pull her chair out for her. She reached up and hugged her friend before she hugged Lori.

"Last minute decision, hope you don't mind." Rick said as he cupped her belly in his hand. "This thing ever gonna come out of there?" He asked as Carol moved to sit down.

Carol laughed. "You and Daryl have the same mind." She said as she sat in the chair and looked over at Carl.

"Hey Aunt Carl, Jude and I made breakfast for Mom this morning." Carol grinned and looked over at him.

"Did you? Save any for Aunt Carol?" She asked.

"You're not a Mom, Aunt Carol, it's Mothers Day." Carl said.

"Thanks for that, Carl, really." She said and leaned over to press a kiss on her godsons forehead. "Soon, hopefully. I'd love to finally meet Sophia." She said, resting her hand over her stomach.

Lori smiled, remembering how it felt right before she gave birth. "Daryl still sold on the name?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure he'll like it once she's born." Carol said, adjusting slightly in her chair. "Whenever that is." She let out a light laugh as the waiter came over and took their orders. Carol ordered a chicken sandwich and french fries, adjusting in her chair.

"Are you okay, Carol?" Lori asked, frowning as she noticed Carol adjusting and making a face.

"Yeah, just.. A bit uncomfortable. Probably just their chair on my butt." She said, leaning back and resting her hand over her stomach. She licked her lips and ran her hand over her stomach.

"You sure?" Rick asked, grasping his hand over her arm. Carol nodded and reached forward, picking up her glass of water and taking a long drink of it.

The group made small talk for a little bit until their lunch came out. With each second passing second, Carol began to feel more and more uncomfortable, shutting her eyes. She took a few deep breaths, reaching out for Rick's arm and grabbing his forearm.

Rick was startled as Carol grabbed his arm. "Carol, ya okay?" Rick asked as her hand tightened around his forearm. Rick recognized the squeezing, he remembered this from having two children. "Alright, Carol, you're going into labor. We need to get you to the hospital." Carol looked up at Rick and her eyes widened when he said she was going into labor. Rick stood to his feet and wrapped his arms around her to help her to her feet.

"No, no, I can't go into labor, Daryl's not here, he's at work." Carol said as she stood to her feet.

"Carol, I'll call Daryl and get him over there, just go with Rick, okay?" Lori reached down to pick up her bag and as Rick walked Carol back to her car, she pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed the number for Daryl's work, the local autoshop in town. "I need to speak to Daryl Dixon. It's about his wife." Lori said, putting a handful of money on the table and getting her kids jackets on.

"Hello?" Daryl said into the phone.

"Daryl? It's Lori!" She said as she picked up Judith and made sure Carl was following her as they walked to the car at a brisk pace. "Carol went into labor at lunch, Rick's driving her to the hospital now." Lori buckled Judith into the car seat and Carl went around to climbed in the backseat next to his little sister. "Just meet us there, okay?" Lori hung up on Daryl and climbed into the car, driving after Rick and Carol.

* * *

Daryl ran down the hallway towards the waiting room to find Rick Grimes standing in the waiting room, pacing the length of the room. "Uncle Daryl!" Carl exclaimed upon seeing his uncle. Carl got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around his uncles waist. Daryl smiled nervously and patted his nephews shoulder, looking up at Rick.

"Where is she?" He asked.

Rick nodded towards one of the rooms and pulled Carl off Daryl. "She's in there with Lori." He barely got out before Daryl took off into the room where his wife was.

"Carol!" He exclaimed, seeing Carol lying in the hospital bed. He hadn't missed the birth at least.

Carol looked up at him and smiled as much as she could as he came around to her side, pressing his lips against her sweaty forehead. "Hey, baby." He said, pushing strands of her short hair off of her face. "She ready to come out yet?" He asked.

"Doctor said it's gonna be a few hours, but yeah. She's ready. Our baby's ready."

Hours later, the first born Dixon girl in generations came into the world crying as loud as she could. Daryl would never forget the sounds of his daughter's first cry, not until the day he'd die. The doctors took Sophia to get her washed up, then returned her to Carol, resting her against her chest.

She looked down at Sophia and felt tears prick to her eyes as she stroked the soft skin of her daughters face. Daryl was perched on the side of her hospital bed, staring down at his wife and daughter. He leaned down and pressed his lips against his daughters head, then a kiss on his daughters forehead. "What was that about not being a Mom?" He asked.

Carol let out a soft laugh, looking up at her husband, a large grin across her face. "She's perfect." She said softly, looking down at her little girl.

"Sophia's perfect." Daryl mumbled. He hadn't been crazy about the name beforehand but now that he was looking down at his daughter, it was perfect. He looked back at his wife and turned her head towards his so he could press his lips into hers. "Happy Mothers Day, Carol."


	12. Twelve: Rock Star AU

I talked about this idea before on my old tumblr, Daryl being a musician and an alcoholic that's forced to go to AA and Carol being part of the group too and they form this bond and she helps him get over his alcoholism and e helps her leave her husband. I wrote a few parts to it, but I never actually went through and wrote the whole fic out. Thought I'd use it for this since I almost never update my Caryl anymore..

* * *

"You're a good musician." A voice broke the silence at the coffee table and the infamous rock star looked down at the woman, blowing hair from his face. It was the first time any of them have spoken to him and he's surprised it was the mousey woman with the shiner on her face. He wasn't paying attention in group so he didn't know her name or what her story was – or even if she had said anything.

"Most would say was." He mumbled in response, dumping sugar into his coffee. Daryl didn't bother to measure it out, he just knew that he liked his coffee sweeter than ice cream on a hot summers night. He stirred the coffee with a straw and brought it up to his mouth to take a slow drink of it before pouring more sugar into his coffee.

"I wouldn't. You don't just _lose_ talent." The woman said, scoffing slightly. She licked over her lips and picked up her own coffee, which he noticed was as black as her t-shirt and he makes a face. He can't stand black coffee down from the smell to its taste. "Talent like that... Like yours. That's forever." She gave Daryl a slight smile. "And you shouldn't give up on that talent because a handful of idiots and a few music critics think you're losing your touch."

Daryl looked down at his tan coffee and licked over lips. No one had believed in him before, told him that he shouldn't give up on his music. His manager told him he might be time to call it quits and he knew he was losing fans due to his attitude and his drinking. Getting sober scared him as alcohol had been his crutch for so long and he wasn't sure exactly what he would do without his alcohol. Daryl opened his mouth to thank the woman for what she said and to ask what her name was but when he looked up she was gone.

Daryl spun around so quickly that he had spilled his coffee all over himself, cursing to himself when he felt the lukewarm liquid spill all over his shirt. He looked up at the half dozen people staring at him as he stood there with a half empty coffee cup in his hand. Had he completely imagined that conversation and he was just going crazy? It wasn't the first time the alcohol made him see things – even though he hadn't had anything to drink in the last two days. He cursed and tossed a few tissues on the ground to clean up the coffee he'd spilled on himself but he left before picking up the tissues. Daryl tossed the coffee into a trash can and left the community center the support group met in and began to walk over to his car. He looked around the parking lot and saw a car pulling out of the parking lot, catching a glimpse of the strange woman who had told him not to give up.

He sighed softly, thankful that he wasn't going fucking crazy and the woman was real. Daryl ran a hand through his hair and opened his car door, climbing into the door. He fished in his pocket for his cigarettes, lighter and cell phone. There were several phones and text messages that he had no intention on returning waiting for him and had he not been sure there was some stuff on his phone he didn't want leaked to the press, he would have thrown the phone out of the window. Daryl pulled a cigarette out of his pack and put it in his mouth before lighting it and taking a long drag off it it. He leaned his head back as he smoked the cigarette, a nasty habit he had tried to quit several times but having the cigarettes kept him from going off the handle and trying to kill someone. After tossing the cigarette out the window, Daryl found his keys in his pocket and pulled them out so he could start his car up and drive back to the hotel he'd taken residence in.

When he returned to his hotel room, Daryl pulled his leather jacket off and dropped it to the ground then pulled off his wet t-shirt and let it join the jacket on the floor. Walking over the bed, he knelt down under it and pulled out shoe box. He glanced inside of it to see several bottles of alcohol he'd been keeping despite his promise to his manager that he wouldn't be around it. He walked with the box into the bathroom and sat by the bathtub, one by one emptying the bottles into the tub. He looked at the now empty bottles and let out a long sigh. Daryl left the box of empty liquor on the floor of the bathroom and went to sit on the bed. He opened the end table drawer beside the bed and he found a pad of paper and a pen inside, deciding to try to write something for the first time in years.

* * *

Daryl was struggling. He was struggling with not having the crutch of alcohol to ease the pain of everything. He'd try to sleep it off, but for the most part he was unable to sleep. When he was able to sleep, he had nightmare after nightmare after nightmare that scared the living hell out of him. His head ached all the time and he was irritable to everyone. He snapped at maids and people in the lobby. He snapped at people who dared to try to talk to him.

After the headaches passed, the hallucinations started; he saw dead people and monsters everywhere. He frequently saw his dead parents and his brother – who he hadn't seen in years. Daryl thought he was going crazy. He almost looked forward to going to group, maybe this time he would actually talk. Or maybe he'd see that mousey woman who inspired him to dump all his alcohol out and thank her. Or maybe he'd tell her to go to hell. It would depend on the mood he felt that day.

When Group came, Daryl had trouble pulling himself out of bed that morning. He was so fuckin' exhausted and he didn't know if he was going to be able to make it through the day. But he forced himself out of bed and into the bathroom to brush his hair, teeth and take a shower. After his shower, Daryl dressed in jeans and a ratted t-shirt he'd had for probably fifteen years now. Of course he could afford new clothing, but he liked his clothes to be worn in and he didn't want to buy those expensive clothes that look already worn in. He attempted to eat a bagel but gave up after a few bites of it. Lately he couldn't eat anything without throwing it up and he just wanted it to stop. He thought about going down to the store and buying a bottle of vodka to get over it but he figured he had gotten almost a week without drinking and he didn't want to fuck it up.

Daryl parked his car in the parking lot and pulled out a cigarette from his pack of cigarettes and he lit one up, looking out the window as people showed up. Subconsciously, Daryl was hoping that the mousey woman would show up and he could have a few moments with her before group started. Daryl smoked two cigarettes before he saw the same car she had left in last week and gave it a few moments. He put out his third cigarette and stuck it back in the package so he could finish it later. Once the car drove away, Daryl climbed out of his car and jogged up to the woman, reaching forward to grab her arm.

The woman let out a surprised yell as she turned around and flinched, causing Daryl to step back and his eyes widen. When she realized that it was Daryl that grabbed her arm she let out a heavy sigh and rest a hand over her chest. "I'm sorry. You scared me." She said and Daryl licked over his lips. Her surprise and flinching from him just grabbing led him to put pieces together about the shiner on her eye, which didn't seem to get any better with the week.

"M'sorry." Daryl mumbled, slipping both his hands into his pockets. He glanced down at his feet then looked up at her and pursed his lips for a brief second. "I uh... Just wanted to say thanks." The woman in front of him tilted her head to the side as if she was questioning what he said. It made him wonder if it was even her that he spoke to last week or if it even happened.

"For what?" She asked, cradling the hand that she had resting on her chest.

"What you said last week. '_You don't just lose talent. Talent like that... Like yours. That's forever." _Daryl quoted her and he noticed her smiling half way through him quoting her and he was sure that it was her he had spoken to. "And it just.. It did something for me. I dumped out my alcohol and.. Well I did some writing." He found himself rambling and he shrugged, looking down at his feet.

"I'm happy I could help you." She said softly and glanced back at the doors. "We should get inside. The meetings about to start." The woman turned around from Daryl and began to walk up the steps to the community center's front doors. Daryl took two large steps to catch up to the small woman and walked in pace with her, turning to look at her.

"You ain't got a name for me? Need a name to credit for my new found sobriety." Daryl half joked, though he had definitely credited what she said to him.

The woman looked up at him, a small smile forming on her face again. It was exactly what she was there for, helping people get sober. She was happy she could help him. "Carol. You don't have to tell me who you are, Daryl."


End file.
